1987 was the year when the first 350 tons ground effect "ship" from the series of Soviet battle missile carriers was produced. It was called Lun after the Russian name for a bird of prey - hen harrier. Another name for this vehicle was Project 903. It carried 6 Moskit cruise missiles (SS-N-22 Sunburn in NATO classification). Hitting four of them causes inevitable sinking of a vessel of any know type and size. The second Lun-class battle aircraft was supposed to be produced in several years but due to the end of cold war and partial disarmament the project was changed to a rescue aircraft and it was never finished.

This type of vehicle called in Russian ekranoplan uses so called ground effect - extra lift of large wings when in proximity to the surface. For this reason they have been designed to travel at a maximum of three meters above the sea but at the same time could provide take off, stable "flight" and safe "landing" in conditions of up to 5-meter waves. These crafts were originally developed by the Soviet Union as high-speed military transports, and were based mostly on the shores of the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. In 2005 crafts of this type have been classified by the International Marine Organization so they probably should be considered flying ships rather than swimming planes. It is also interesting to note that this aircraft is one of the largest ever built, with a length of 73,8 meters (comparing with 73 of Airbus A380).

Lun doesn't have a landing gear, only a huge hydroski so there's no way for it to get on land and for this reason a special floating dry dock was designed for it.

This hybrid vehicle is driven by 8 turbojet engines.

Functionally the body of this strange ship was divided into 4 parts: fore, middle, after-part and keel together with stabilizer. Fore part possesses pilot house and a pillar holding 8 main engines, as well as a room with secondary ones. Middle and after parts were fully equipped with test facilities but still have also a caboose and a toilet. The whole keel is filled with power installation for electricity supply during mooring and a complex of radio navigation and communication equipment. A room for a gunner is placed in a cross-line of keel and stabilizer at a height of 12 meters over the waterline.

The ecranoplan's crew consisted of 7 officers and 4 warrant officers. It could be absolutely autonomous for 5 days.

The ekranoplans are still being developed and produced in Russia. The ministry of internal affairs owns 3 smaller models that it uses for rescuing operations and fast delivery operations at sea, and ordered another 2 to be delivered in 2011.

It’s a very cool concept that takes the best of aviation and naval technology.

Or it can be fixed up and sold to Kim-Jong-iL AS HIS PRIVATE YATCH!! lol!!! Man, do i want one!!! Expically if it comes with hot russian army girls as cabin crew, with the song “makes me wonder” by maroon 5 playing in the main hull where the guys are digging the gals and chugging down vodka!!!! The cool thing is that it actually worked!!

For all who are wondering, yes, these craft really did “fly” at one time. I have no doubt that this one was operated successfully at one time either. The CIA called it “The Caspian Sea Monster” after seeing it from satellite photographs. If you would like to see video of it operating, use that as your search term.

Also, the other name of this type of craft is “WIG”, for “Wing In Ground”. It is also known as a “Ground Effect Craft” as well. This is because of how it gets it’s lift. it uses what is called the ground effect that basically uses the ground as a type of wing, and it floats on a cushion of air between the ground and wing. This is why the engines are on forward nacelles and the thrust output faces down at the wings.

Oh yeah ultra sound and spam(the canned meat). Spent an evening with a rocket scientist and an AF pilot drinking good beer and discussing inventions of war that were used for other things. I got a list around here somewhere. I bet you know them.

You can see this thing in action at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT7ewylPlAQ – starting at 3:00 or so, and you can actually see it shooting off the missiles, holy crud! You can also see what those mysterious curved things are behind the tubes (splash guards). But still no indication why only one of the engines has a grate.

And GPS for our cars and LED flashlights and night vision devices was only for military use and then it was for civilian use.The internet we all use was created so the US government could communicate with each other after a nuclear attack.

Impressive! I have seen many photos and videos of Ekranoplanes before, but never so close and in such details. Too bad that they represent the final cut of the Soviet Empire. They could have been used to transport people throughout Caspian and Black sea, if they were more fuel efficient than normal planes.

AMAIZING…
SOVIETS AND GERMANS ALLWAYS HAVE BEEN AHEAD IN MANY THINGS… ESPETIALLY IN AIR, SEA AND WEPONERY… BUT EU/US NEVER GIVE WORD OF IT BECAUSE OF PRIDE AND CARE FOR LOSS OF TRUST AND CORAGE, SO IT WAS BETTER TO GIVE THE IDEA THAT EVERYONE DIFERENT ON EARTH WERE BEHIND USA/UE, etc., etc.
YOU HAVE TO GIVE CREDIT TO THOSE WHO DESERVE IT… AND FOR THOSE THAT NEVER READ OR SEE ANY NEWS BESIDES WHAT A GOVERNMENT WANT TO TELL YOU, YOU MUST GIVE EVERY BODY THE RIGHT OF THE DAUD OR TO BE BELIVED, OTHER WISE, YOU ARE LOST… SORRY IF MAD OR LOST.
DO YOU EVER SEE THE SOVIET ANTONOV MONSTER FLYING AND GIVING STUNT MANUVERS ON FLYING SHOWS ARROWND THE GLOVE, FOR INSTANCE AT ÖSHKOCH.
ANY WAY… I’M GLAD THIS PICTURES ARE AROWND AND HAVE PEOPLE THINK TWICE FEFORE GIVING ANY WRONGTHOUGHT & SAYINGS… NIKOLAI